Western Lake District

Duddon Iron Furnace

This charcoal-fired iron furnace, built in 1736, is is the oldest surviving site of its kind in northern England. A huge wheel, turned by water from the river, drove the bellows that pumped air into the blast furnace. Recent conservation work has helped save the original buildings, which include the towering furnace stack and storerooms for iron ore and charcoal. Managed by the Lake District National Park Authority.

Duddon Furnace Temporary Closure

Please note: There have been several recent movements in the stonework of the furnace buildings.To ensure public safety we have reluctantly decided to close this site to public access on a temporary basis. We are receiving specialist advice on the safety of the buildings and will be working to re-open the area as soon as possible. The furnace and buildings can still be viewed from the public bridleway, but please do not enter the fenced area around the buildings, where the gates are now locked.

Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.

Swinside Stone Circle

This little-visited stone circle is one of the finest in Britain. It has 55 stones, up to 3 metres (10 feet) high. Like Castlerigg, it dates from the Neolithic period and its entrance seems to line up with the midwinter sunset. Its other name, Sunkenkirk, comes from a legend that people tried to build a church here, but the Devil kept pulling it down.

Barnscar Romano-British Farmstead

This isolated site was a substantial settlement in Roman times. But the residents would have been British, and were clearly not keen on new-fangled Roman house designs! You can see the remains of at least six round houses, and three large enclosures for livestock. On the nearby slopes are field boundaries and a trackway leading to the farmstead. There are signs, too, of a medieval ‘shieling’ seasonal house - overlying the settlement.

Gosforth Cross

This unique Viking cross shows a radical approach to religion. It’s carved with a crucifixion scene and images from Norse mythology, linking the two belief systems. Standing 4.5 metres (15 feet) high, it’s the tallest Viking cross in England. Inside the church are other Viking fragments: two more crosses, two tomb covers and a decorated stone. It’s likely that this was an important site for Christianity in the ninth and tenth centuries.

Muncaster Castle

Muncaster has been owned by the Pennington family since the land was given to their ancestor Alan de Penitone in 1208. It’s grown from a medieval fortified tower-house or ‘pele’ tower, with many additions up to the late nineteenth century. Henry VI sought refuge here during the Wars of the Roses and left a glass drinking-bowl behind, saying if it remained unbroken the Penningtons would thrive. It’s still intact and is known as the ‘Luck of Muncaster’. Entry charge.

Muncaster Castle

Ravenglass Roman Bathhouse

The 1,000-strong garrison at Ravenglass came here to scrub up. It’s one of the best preserved Roman military bathhouses in Britain, with walls standing nearly 4 metres (12 feet) high. Two rooms with doorways and windows survive, but excavations have revealed more rooms, with plumbing for hot and cold baths. Only faint traces remain of the adjacent fort, which was a major Roman naval base and regional supply point for 300 years. Managed by English Heritage.

Location: Grid reference SD088958. 1.2 kilometres (0.25 mile) south east of Ravenglass, off minor road leading to A595.

Disabled access: by car to end of track, view from this side of the fence.

Mecklin Park cairnfield

Though there’s not much to see on the ground, this area is rich in burial mounds, standing stones and possible hut circles. Archaeologists excavated some of the cairns in the 1950s and found jet beads, a flint knife, an arrow-head, and pottery typical of the Bronze Age. You can see the beads and other finds in Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle (opens in new window).

The Lake District National Park Authority looks after this unique corner of England, encouraging people to enjoy and understand its beauty and helping those who live and work here. Our staff include rangers and field workers, advisers at our visitor centres, planners and ecologists.